This paper is a part of the project „EU-8 Social Policy Reviews” initiated and financed by the World Bank and coordinated by the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance. The project aims at describing and explaining the changes in national social policies of the eight new post-socialist member countries of the European Union, occurred in the conditions of unprecedented social transformations. The review is focused on three main issues: 1) presenting an overview of aggregate trends in social protection expenditures including social insurance and assistance as well as labour market policies, 2) revealing main reform directions in social protection areas, and 3) analysing welfare outcomes, including labour market incentives and participation, welfare dependency and poverty effects, and dimensions of social exclusion, and the linkages with social policy choices and economic reforms.